


Not A Bad Thing

by Driver Picks The Music (RandiPandi88)



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:31:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1613408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandiPandi88/pseuds/Driver%20Picks%20The%20Music
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A/U no incest, Miles and Charlie not related, No Blackout She was 8 when she realized he wasn't her uncle, she was 18 when she realized she was in love with him. She was 21 when she made a fool of herself, and she was 25 when she finds out he might actually like her back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Miles/Charlie story where they aren't just uncle/niece so please be kind to me...lol
> 
> There's no incest, they aren't related at all actually. This is going to be a little darker than my usual stuff, because I feel, out of Miles and Bass, Miles is the darker of the two...so...yeah.
> 
> A/U obviously. No blackout either. A couple things, first for this story, Miles is on;y about 15 years older than her...and second, this first chapter is for building up the back story some, starting in chapter 2 it won't jump time like this.
> 
> I would like to dedicate this story to ShyRomantic, for encouraging me to give it a shot. I hope you like it, but feel free to tell me if you don't :)
> 
> Title come from the Justin Timberlake song of the same name. It's pretty awesome, you should check it out.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Revolution...if I did, so much would be different right now...so much.

Charlie remembered the first time she realized he wasn't really her uncle. She was eight years old and she had been playing hide and seek with Danny. She was always so good at hiding, he never found her. But this particular day, her father and her Uncle Miles were in the kitchen talking and didn't know she was hiding in the pantry.

Uncle Miles didn't come over often, he mostly called or sent letters, sometimes he sent her and Danny presents. Her whole life he had never missed showing up or sending a card or gift on her birthday and Christmas. He was a Marine and he was gone a lot of the time.

This visit was her father's birthday. He surprised them all by dropping in when no one knew he would be in town. Now they stood in the kitchen, beer bottles in hand, as her uncle mentioned his mother.

"I can't believe how old you're getting." Miles said with an affectionate smile. "My mother always said you were like the older brother I never had, but I never thought about you actually being old."

Ben laughed and rolled his eyes. "Just wait man, you'll catch up one of these days." He said. "And your mother was right." Ben said as he slung his arm around Mile's shoulders. "And I thank God every day that our parents were friends, and gave me the little brother I never would have had otherwise."

They left the room after that and Charlie crawled out of the pantry. "Oh." She said as she put the puzzle pieces together. "Oh."

….

Charlie was ten when she realized that, NOT her uncle, was actually kind of cute.

It was her birthday and he got to come home this year. It had been over a year since they had seen him and everyone was happy he was here.

Charlie had a few of her friends from school over for the day and didn't understand why they all kept trying to find reasons to bother the grownups.

"What are we doing this for?" she asked as they once again came up with an excuse to go into the living room for something.

Stephanie, her best friend, put a hand on her hip, trying to look older than her ten years. "Because your uncle is really cute." She said, as if Charlie should have realized this fact already.

Charlie frowned. "He's not my uncle, him and my dad are just friends, not really brothers. His parents died when he was little so he lived with my dad and my grandparents because his mother and my grandmother were really close." She explained, having gotten the story out of her own parents after hearing the conversation when she was eight.

Stephanie shrugged. "Well, whoever he is," she said. "he's hot." She shrugged again. "You know, for an old dude."

Charlie looked into the living room as her dad and Miles both smiled at the girls, who were obviously trying to get his attention, and she couldn't help but notice, they were right. He was cute.

….

Charlie was fourteen when she realized that she had a crush on Miles. Sure she had known for a while, four year, that he was good looking, but she had never really thought much beyond that. Until Christmas time that year when she opened her present from him and smiled as she lightly touched the gold chain.

"This is beautiful." She said to him as she took the necklace out of the box.

Miles smiled. "Every beautiful girl needs a beautiful necklace." He said and she looked up at him. And she had never been gladder than she was in that moment that he wasn't her uncle.

…

The first time she tried to make him jealous, she was sixteen. He had shown up, out of the blue, to stay for two whole weeks this time, and she decided that this was the perfect time to introduce him to her boyfriend Jason.

What she hadn't counted on was the fact that after the initial intimidation act, he would actually like Jason.

"You've got yourself a good one here Charlie." He said after they sat and talked about cars for what seemed like hours to Charlie .

She smiled and grabbed Jason's hand and dragged him out of the room, stopping only long enough to grab his face and plant one of him, in full view of Miles of course.

But the only thing that happened was a chuckle from Miles and her father walking into the room and putting an end to the whole failed charade.

Two weeks later Miles left again and she broke up with Jason, telling him that she was sorry but she really thought they would be better off as friends.

….

The first time Charlie got drunk was on her twenty-first birthday. Miles showed up, saying that he couldn't miss such an important day. "After all," he said. "now is when you can start openly drinking." He said with a chuckle.

She hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of it. It wasn't like she had never had a drink before, so she hadn't made any plans with her friends for the night of her birthday, that would wait until the following weekend.

But Miles had other ideas and she couldn't really say that she fought him too hard on it, since she had realized when she was eighteen, ten years after realizing he wasn't her uncle, that she was totally in love with him.

So she went drinking with him.

And really, could anyone blame her for having a couple more drinks than she had originally intended? And taking that into consideration, she really wasn't to blame for her actions later that night when Miles was helping her into the car.

"Thank you Miles." She slurred as she leaned against him, savoring the rare opportunity to feel him against her.

Miles smiled and chuckled a little at the slur to her words. "Don't mention it kid, I'm sure your parents won't find it quite as thank worthy as you do."

Charlie frowned slightly as she pulled away from him as he reached out to unlock the car door. "I'm not a kid anymore." She said.

Miles looked at her, a brow raised. "I know." He said.

Charlie raised her brows. "Do you?" she asked.

It was Miles turn to frown now. "Of course, I wouldn't take a kid out to get drunk Charlie." He said with a smirk.

Charlie shook her head. "No, I mean really. Do you?" she asked again as she swayed slightly

Miles put a hand on each of her shoulders, making sure he had her attention as well as holding her steady. "Yes Charlie, I do." He said firmly.

Charlie smiled. "Good." She said and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.

Miles pulled back and shook his head. "Charlie, you don't know what you're doing." He said as she chased after his mouth. He held her away from him. "You need to get in the car, I need to take you home." He said as he opened her door.

Charlie got into the car and he closed the door. She didn't look at him the whole way home, and he didn't try to get her to speak.

The next afternoon she got up and he was gone. She didn't see him again for four years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you to everyone who reviewed and left kudos, you guys are awesome and make me feel so much better about this. I'm still nervous about this story though, so be sure to keep it up...lol

It was Charlie's twenty-fifth birthday. She was going home to spend the weekend with her family and she was taking Connor with her. Her parents loved him and she knew he would be a great distraction from the sorrow that had penetrated the house since her grandmother had passed away a few weeks ago.

"Are you sure it's ok that I came?" Connor asked as they walked into the kitchen of her childhood home.

Charlie leaned against the counter and nodded at him. "Yes, mom said she was happy to have you." She said as she reached out and grabbed his belt loops, pulling him closer to her. "My parents love you, you know that." She said as she leaned forward, touching her lips to his.

"Perfect timing as always."

Charlie pulled away from Connor and turned toward the voice. "Miles."

Miles smiled slightly. "Hey kid." He said, his eyes never leaving hers.

Connor cleared his throat and Charlie pulled her eyes from Miles. "Oh uh, Connor, this is Miles, a friend of the family." She said gaining raised brows from Miles. "Miles, this is Connor." She said.

Connor smiled and reached a hand out for a hand shack. "Her boyfriend." He said as Miles shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you; Charlie's spoken fondly of you."

Miles smirked. "Oh I'm sure that's not entirely true." He said and Connor chuckled, not sure if he was joking or not.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "No really," she said. "I've told him all about my drinking buddy." She said, and Miles narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

Connor laughed then. "That's true, she told me you were the one that took her out on her twenty-first birthday, and how you had to help her into the car." He smiled at Charlie as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "She's a bit of a lightweight huh?"

Miles shook his head once. "I don't know." He said, his eyes once again on Charlie. "She can surprise you, that's for sure."

He grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and saluted her with the bottle. "Happy birthday Kid." He said as he turned to leave the room before Charlie's words stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm not a kid anymore." She said.

Miles turned around and nodded. "Believe me," he said. "I know." He raised his bottle to his lips and took a pull before turning and leaving her staring after him.

"Hey are you alright?" Connor asked, pulling her attention back to him.

Charlie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I just didn't know he was going to be here, surprised me a little, it's been awhile."

….

"So what do we know about this Connor kid?" Miles asked Ben after sitting down in the den where they had the TV turned to ESPN and turned down low.

Ben shrugged. "He's nice enough. I don't really think it's too serious, but they've been dating for a couple of months now." Ben looked at him and raised a brow. "Why, what do you think of him?"

He seemed harmless, but for reasons he'd rather not think about at this moment, Miles didn't like him. "Jury's still out on that one." he settled with saying, causing Ben to laugh.

Truth be told, Miles knew exactly why he didn't like the kid. It was the same reason why he had made sure never to home at the same time as Charlie in the past four years. It was that damn kiss and the girl that gave it to him.

Which was completely insane. He's forty years old. He's almost old enough to be her father. Not to mention the fact that he was practically her uncle. But try telling that to the jealous ball he felt in his gut when he walked into the kitchen and found them all over each other.

The best thing he could do was get through the weekend and get the hell out of here as soon as possible, and put her and that drunken kiss out of his head once and for all.

Yeah, that'll happen.

…..

"Hey." Miles said into his phone later that night.

His best friend for most of his life, Sebastian "Bass" Monroe was on the other end. "So?" he said, and Miles sighed.

"So what?" he asked. "You know what Miles, is she there?" Bass asked.

Miles ran a hand over his face, wishing not for the first time, that he had the ability to keep anything at all from his friend. "Yeah, of course she is, it's her birthday tomorrow; she always comes home for her birthday." He said.

"Exactly." Bass said. "You knew she would be there when you decided to go, even though you could have gone to pay your respects to Ben and his family any time in the last few weeks." Bass sighed. "Listen, all I know is that you've been avoiding her for the last four years like she has the plague, and all because of some stupid drunk kiss."

Miles nodded even though he couldn't see him. "Yeah, so?"

"So, if it didn't mean anything, it wouldn't have meant anything." Bass said in all his wisdom. "I know you feel guilty, but stop, she's not your niece, she's not really your family. She's a woman that you find attractive. There's nothing wrong with that." He said.

"Besides," Bass continued when Miles didn't say anything. "You can count on your fingers how many times you've seen her in person in her whole life, so you don't even really have the illusion of family ties there."

Miles sighed once again. He was right, he knew Bass was right. It's the same thing he'd been telling Miles for four years now, ever since Miles told him about the kiss that changed the way he saw her. The kiss that changed everything.

"It doesn't matter anyway, she brought her boyfriend home with her." he settled on saying.

Bass snorted. "Her boyfriend, really? You're going to let that get in the way? When has a boyfriend ever stopped you before?"

Miles rolled his eyes. "It's different, this is Charlie." He said.

"No, what's different is the fact that you actually have feelings for this girl, but you're too scared to admit it. Instead you spend four years avoiding her, making sure you only go home when you know she's not there." Bass said, sounding exasperated. "Just admit to yourself, if not to anyone else, that you actually like her."

Miles paced around the guest room where he was staying. "It's not that simple Bass, you know that."

Bass scoffed. "Yeah I know, it's Ben's daughter, and that makes it complicated, but so what?"

"And she's 25 years old man." Miles pointed out.

"Again, I must say, so what?" Bass asked. "She's an adult and you need to find out once and for all if she has real feelings for you or if that was all just a stupid crush or whatever, so you can either do something about it, or move on." He said. "Because right now, the only one making it complicated, is you."

Miles sat down on the edge of the bed. "This is ridiculous." He said.

"I agree." Bass said.

Miles rolled his eyes. "No I mean this whole conversation. It doesn't matter what I may or may not feel, nothing is ever going to happen."

"Yeah it is actually." Bass said and Miles frowned. "What do you mean?"

Bass sighed. "Think about this man, you've had the Marines to use as your excuse for years now, but you're done there now remember? You're ready for civilian life now and that means spending more time with your loving family, or telling them why you're not around."

Miles rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. "So what you're saying is either way I'm screwed, because like an idiot I fell for her." he chuckled humorlessly. "After one stupid kiss."

"Well," Bass said. "Depending on what her feelings for you are, that whole being screwed thing might work in your favor." He said with a laugh.

Miles rolled his eyes again. "And on that note, I'm hanging up." He said before shutting off the phone.

Miles laid back on the bed and let the phone drop down beside him. Bass didn't get it. It was crazy no matter how he looked at it. Yeah he hadn't seen her much in her young life, but he knew her. He couldn't begin to count the number of letters and emails they had exchanged over the years.

But Bass was also right. He had to do something or this was all going to blow up in his face, and it had the potential to ruin his family.

He thought about all the letters and phone calls and visits with Ben and Rachel and Danny over the last few years, and how he had practically begged for information about Charlie. And once again he knew Bass was right. He had to at least admit to himself what he really felt. So looking up at the mirror over the dresser he sighed. "I think I'm in love with her." he said to his reflection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it might seem like "What? Really after 4 years you're in love with her? You haven't even seen her!" But we'll get to that...lol The next couple of chapters are going to show us what was going on with these two lovely people over the span of those 4 years, and how Miles got from "Get in the car" to "I'm in love with her"
> 
> We will also see "the kiss" from Miles pov, and see how it might have really effected him...ok? I have plans to hopefully make you all happy, so don't worry about that. :)
> 
> I really hope you liked this chapter, and thank you for reading.
> 
> Remember, reviews make you AWESOME!


	3. Chapter 3

Four years ago…

It was Christmas. Charlie was not looking forward to this. It was going to be awkward and uncomfortable but she would get through it, for her family. Because if she skipped they would want to know why she wasn't coming home when she had never missed the party before, and as much as she loved her parents, she just couldn't tell them what happened. She couldn't tell them how she had made a fool out of herself and ruined her friendship with one of the most important people in her life.

So she took a breath and let it out and opened the front door. "Hey I'm home." She called out and smiled when her younger brother Danny came into the foyer to greet her.

"Hey." He said as he helped her out of her coat. "I wasn't sure if you were going to show up." He said.

Danny was her best friend. She told him about almost everything that happened in her life, so it only made sense that she told him what had happened with Miles.

She smiled. "Of course I came, it's Christmas."

Danny shrugged. "Yeah well, I guess not everyone feels that way." He said as he motioned to a small pile of presents sitting on the table by the Christmas tree. "We got those in the mail this morning, looks like he's not showing up this year." He said as they walked over to look at the brightly wrapped boxes. "His letter said he was spending the holiday with Bass and his girlfriend."

Charlie looked at him. "Bass's girlfriend?"

Danny nodded, feeling a little sad at the situation his sister found herself in. "Yeah, Bass's girlfriend, not Miles. From what I understand, he's not seeing anyone right now."

…..

"Miles always sends such nice things, I thought you guys might want to go ahead and open them tonight, and we can do the rest of them tomorrow." Rachel said later that night after all their friends and family had left.

Charlie smiled at her mother. "You know we're not kids anymore right mom?" she asked with a chuckle. "But we'll still open them." She said, making her mother laugh.

Charlie took the small box she was handed and looked at it for a moment, wondering what could be inside. Miles always gave her the most perfect gifts, but after how they left things last time she had almost expected not to get anything this year.

She slowly unwrapped it and opened the box and found a small jewelry box inside. She pulled it out and opened it up and found a note.

I always meant to give you a place to keep that necklace  
Merry Christmas.  
Miles.

"Let's get a picture to send to Miles, show him what he's missing out on this year." Her dad said playfully.

Charlie was already sitting on the center cushion of the couch, so they all piled in around her after setting up the camera. She smiled, one hand on her brothers shoulder and the other laid gently on top of the little box in her lap.

…

Miles opened his email the next morning and saw the picture. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the box in Charlie's lap.

…

"OK what is up with you? You've been mopey all weekend." Bass said as he flopped down on the couch beside Miles.

Miles sighed "I'm not mopey, it's just…you remember how you asked me why I wasn't going home for Christmas?"

Bass nodded. "Yeah sure, I was worried it was because I wasn't going with you like I usually do." He said. "You said it wasn't that, are you sure you're ok?"

Miles shook his head slightly. "No it's not that, it's just that…" he sighed again. "You remember a couple of months ago when I went home for Charlie's birthday?" Bass nodded. "Something happened." Miles said.

Bass frowned. "What?"

"She kissed me." Miles stated.

Bass raised his brows. "Charlie?"

Miles rolled his eyes. "No Rachel." he said with sarcasm. "Of course Charlie."

"Oh." Bass said in realization. "Wow, that's uh, that's…how?" he finally settled on asking.

"I got her pretty drunk," Miles said with a shrug. "I mean it was her twenty-first, I only had a couple so I could drive, but she had a few more than that, and when I was helping her into the car, she started in about how she was all grown up and she kissed me." He said and ran a hand through his hair.

Bass sat there, thinking over what he had just heard, before he shrugged. "She was drunk right?" he asked and Miles nodded. "Well there you go then, it didn't mean anything. Right?" he asked.

But Bass noticed Miles wasn't looking at him, his brows furrowed as he looked at his hands resting in his lap.

"Oh," he said again. "it does mean something, doesn't it?"

Miles shook his head. "No it doesn't." he said.

Bass raised a brow. "Then why not go home?" he asked.

Miles shrugged. "I didn't want to make her feel awkward after basically rejecting her." he said.

Bass nodded. "Right, make her feel awkward, because it didn't mean anything to you."

Miles nodded. "Exactly, meant nothing, less than nothing."

Bass looked doubtful but nodded. "Alright, so why are we talking about it?"

Miles looked at him then and opened his mouth, and then closed it and shook his head slightly again. "I'm going to go get a drink, you want one?" he asked, officially changing the subject.

Bass shook his head and watched his friend leave the room and the conversation behind. Miles could say it meant nothing, but Bass knew him and he knew there was something different this time. About Charlie.

He just hadn't realized at the time how different she was going to turn out to be for his best friend and brother.

…

Present Day…

It seemed only fitting, after his self-confession the night before, that the first thing Miles did the next morning was literally run into Charlie.

He came out of the guest room and into the hall where he ran into her, his hands coming up automatically to catch ahold of her to keep her from falling.

"Miles." she said.

He dropped his hands and took a step back. "Sorry." He said.

Charlie shook her head. "No it's fine. Good morning."

"Morning." Miles said before turning and walking away. Once again leaving Charlie watching after him.

….

Charlie stood in the hall way, rubbing her arms where Miles hands had just been as she replayed the one sided conversation she had overheard last night.

She had been headed for the den, where Connor was sleeping on the pull out bed, to tell him goodnight, when Miles voice stopped her as she started to pass the guest room. She knew it was wrong, that she should give him his privacy, but it had been so long since she had last seen him, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

She strained to hear.

"It's not that simple Bass, you know that." He said and then after a pause, "And she's 25 years old man." Miles said, sounding frustrated.

They were talking about her? What could they possibly be talking about her for? What wasn't simple?

"It doesn't matter what I may or may not feel…" she heard him say before his voice softened enough that she couldn't hear it through the door.

"I'm screwed, because like an idiot I fell for her." Charlie placed a hand to her mouth, she was unable to make out part of what he said next, but two words were clear. "Stupid kiss."

She backed away from the door and stood in the hall for a moment, unsure of what to do, before she turned and went back to her room, all thoughts of talking to Connor gone from her mind.

Now here she stood, once again in the hallway unsure of what to do. Should she let him know she heard what he said? Confront him? Or should she let it be. It's been four years, he's had plenty of time to do something if he wanted to.

With a shack of her head, Charlie tossed her hair back. She had made a fool of herself once before, she wasn't going to do it again. If he wanted her, he could make the first move this time.

He could come to her this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so Charlie heard part of the conversation with Bass, but she didn't hear the most important part!
> 
> Just in case anyone was wondering, I had thought about making Monroe Miles phone a friend support line, and only having him show up on the phone, but I have bigger and better plans for him now, so sometime soon he will be making an appearance...I'll leave it to you to speculate when and why he will show up, and just what he'll be up to, but he will be a bigger part of this story than originally intended. You know Bass, he just doesn't like being left out...lol
> 
> Thanks for reading, I'm working on chapter 4, and if anyone is interested, I am starting on my next Charloe story tomorrow. It will be the next installment for the Red Camaro series, and I hope to have the first chapter posted by Monday or Tuesday. :)
> 
> Remember, reviews make you AWESOME!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. This is probably my favorite so far. I hope you all like it too. Thank you to everyone who has favorited followed and/or reviewed! You guys always make me smile! :)

This was going to be harder than she thought. Charlie was doing all she could to avoid Miles, but her parents were going to start to notice that one or both of them left whenever the other came into a room.

Charlie sighed to herself. It didn't matter anymore, what he might feel for her. He had his chance and he blew it. She had Connor now, she didn't need Miles. She didn't want him.

She rolled her eyes at herself as she walked into the living room and forced herself not to turn right back around and leave when she found him sitting with her father. Maybe, if she kept telling herself that, she might start to believe it.

"Charlie." Her dad said with a smile. "Happy birthday. Come and sit with us for a minute." Ben said, motioning to the empty seat on the couch. The couch Miles was currently sitting on.

Charlie forced a smile and sat on the end furthest away from him. "Thank you daddy." She said. "Oh," she said. "before I forget, I just wanted to let you know that Connor and I will be going out later to see some friends of mine I haven't seen in a while." She said. "And Danny said he was going to go with us."

Charlie stood up to leave the room then, but managed to smile, if a little strained, at Miles before walking out. This was going to be fine. She could totally handle this.

….

Later that evening, right after a dinner of Charlie's favorite steaks on the grill and a salad, the doorbell rang. Charlie happened to be the closest to the door at the time, so she went to answer it. Who she found on the other side was a bit of a shock.

She shook her head slightly and smiled. "Well look who we have here." She said "Sebastian Monroe, in person." She said as she took a step back, inviting him in. "It's been a long time." Charlie said as he walked inside.

"Well Charlotte, I couldn't let the day pass without telling you happy birthday." Bass said with smirk. "How old are you now anyway?" he asked.

Charlie raised a brow, knowing full well he knew how old she was. "I'm twenty-five today." She said.

Bass looked her over, from her head to her feet and slowly back up again, a flirtatious smile gracing his lips. "And all grown up it seems."

Charlie laughed. "Well at least somebody noticed." She said as she led him into the living room where the rest of the family was.

"Who was it honey?" Rachel asked.

Charlie pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Oh just some old bum." She said as everyone looked up to see their newest visitor.

Miles frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he stood up and walked over to his friend.

Bass shrugged with a smile. "Oh you know, last night on the phone you just sounded like you having such a good time I thought I would drop in, see how everyone is. It's been awhile, as Charlotte here was so kind to point out."

"Oh," Charlie said. "Sebastian, this is Connor." She said, going over to where he sat and placing a hand on his shoulder. "My boyfriend." She said smiling down at him, missing the look Miles and Bass shared.

Bass walked over to him and stuck his hand out. "Good to meet you, you can call me Bass." He said. "This one over here is the only one to call me Sebastian. Her whole life she's refused to call me Bass."

Charlie raised a brow and smirked. "You refused to call me Charlie, I call you Sebastian." She said, and Bass rolled his eyes.

Miles cleared his throat. "Bass, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. "In the other room." He said before gripping his shoulder and dragging him out of the room. But not before Bass winked at Charlie shooting her another flirty smile.

…

"What are you doing?" Miles asked in a loud whisper when he dragged Bass into the kitchen.

Bass shrugged. "Nothing, what are you doing?"

Miles smacked him on the back of the head. "Don't try to be cute, why are you here?" he asked as Bass rubbed his head.

Bass frowned. "I'm here to help you out." He said finally.

Miles raised his brows "You're here to what? I don't need your help with anything."

Bass rolled his eyes. "Yeah actually, you do. Don't worry about it though, I've got your back." He said before turning and walking out.

Miles sighed and hung his head. This was not going to turn out well.

…

Charlie, Connor, Danny, and a few of her old high school friends that she didn't see much now that she had moved out of town, were hanging out in the only bar in town. A little run down place that the townies still hung out in every Friday night. The place where Charlie came with these same friends on her weekend trips home from school.

The place she had had her first real drink when she was only nineteen years old, because she knew the bartender and he let her have a beer after she promised not to let anyone know.

She smiled as she looked around at this place that held so many memories for her. But that smiled faltered when she saw the two men that had just walked through the door.

"What are they doing here?" she heard herself ask as Danny also spotted Miles and Bass.

Miles looked over and saw her, his gaze connecting with hers and they both froze.

…..

Four years ago…

Miles wrapped an arm around her shoulder as he helped her to the car, laughing at the way she held on to him so she didn't fall. He hadn't intended to let her get this far gone, but she had been having so much fun he didn't want to ruin it for her.

"I'm not a kid anymore." She said and he raised his brows as he looked at her. "I know." He said.

"Do you?" she asked as she stood on her own in front of him.

Miles frowned. "Of course I do." He said; where was this coming from? "I wouldn't take a kid out to get drunk Charlie." He said, trying to make a joke, lighten the suddenly serious tone the night seemed to be taking.

"No," Charlie said shaking her head. "I mean really, do you?" she asked him and he saw her sway on her feet, the effects of too much alcohol.

On instinct he reached out and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from stumbling. "Yes Charlie, I do." Miles said.

He relaxed a little as he saw her smile. "Good." She said before surprising the hell out of him by leaning forward and pressing her mouth to his.

Miles had kissed plenty of women, but never before had any of them tasted like Charlie. That thought brought him back to himself and he pushed her away from him and shook his head to clear it. "Charlie you don't know what you're doing." He said, knowing she would never have started this if she hadn't been drunk.

She didn't seem to be listening as she tried to lean back into him, but Miles held firm. "You need to get in the car." He said; not sure if he was telling himself or her. "I need to take you home." He said, this time knowing it was her he was speaking to.

After a silent car ride, she was mostly asleep by the time he pulled into the driveway, so he half carried her as he helped her inside and to her room. Then got her into her bed.

Miles reached to the chair in the corner and grabbed the extra blanket that was kept there and laid it over her, lightly brushing the hair from her face and he frowned.

He had told her he knew she wasn't a kid anymore, but really, when had that happened? She had always just been Ben's kid, but now looking down at her as she slept, he didn't see that kid anywhere in her features. Instead, in her place was a beautiful young woman. A woman he could still taste on his lips. And she tasted like home.

…

Present Day…

Four years later and he would almost swear he could still taste her. Miles opened his mouth to tell Bass they should just go somewhere else, but all he got out was a groan when he noticed his friend already headed for Charlie's booth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely loved writing Bass here. I see him being a bit of a comic relief for them. I hope you guys liked this version of Bass as much as I do. and I hope you liked "The Kiss" from Miles POV I loved writing that!
> 
> Remember, reviews make you AWESOME!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK now we're cooking with gas, these are starting to come easier for me now that we've gotten into the story some. I'm think there will be around 5 more chapters...but I've been known to be wrong about that before, so don't take my word on it. lol
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)

Miles snapped his mouth shut and followed Bass to the booth.

"Well fancy meeting you here." Bass was saying when Miles reached the table, and he rolled his eyes, and glanced at Charlie to see her do the same.

"Didn't you ask where we were going earlier?" Danny asked Bass, one brow raised in question.

Bass smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe, I don't remember, that was so long ago. Anyway," he said as he slid into the booth beside Charlie. "what are we drinking tonight?" he asked with a smile.

Miles sighed and grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down at the end of the booth, and glared at his best friend.

…

Three years ago…

It was Charlie's twenty-second birthday and Miles didn't send a card or call her. And he didn't show up as a surprise. Not that she expected him to, he was stationed somewhere, she didn't know where for sure, and her mother informed her that he couldn't get away this year.

She knew he had been by a couple of times in the last year, but she hadn't seen him. She was surprised though, that he didn't acknowledge the day at all. After sending her a Christmas present she had thought maybe they might be able to put the kiss incident behind them, but after the radio silence this past year, she knew that wasn't going to happen.

She had ruined everything. He must hate her now. Or feel sorry for her. Maybe he felt bad and didn't want to make it awkward for her. Whatever the reason, he wasn't around and that made her sad.

….

Miles sat at a bar in North Carolina, he was three sheets to the wind and heavily flirting with the dark haired girl beside him. He didn't remember her name, but that didn't really matter much to him. What matter was how she would taste when he kissed her. Pleasantly surprising her, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

It was wrong, it was all wrong. He swore under his breath as he pulled away, and the girl smiled. "My thoughts exactly." She said, mistaking his meaning.

Miles shook his head slightly, clearing some of the liquor induced fog from his mind. "Let's get out of here." He said as he stood up and offered his hand.

The girl took it and let him pull her up and lead her through the bar towards the door. They passed Bass where he sat with his drink, on his phone to his girl back home. Miles nodded once as he passed but didn't return Bass smile of approval at the girl in tow.

"Shelly babe, I gotta go, I'll call you back later, I need to catch Miles." He said before hanging up the phone and going after his friend.

"Miles." He called out as he headed out the door. Miles stopped by his car and turned to Bass, and raised his brows. "Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked, and looked at the girl now leaning against the side of the car. "We'll only be a minute." He told her with a smile.

Miles walked over to him and raised his brows again. "What do you want, I'm kind of in the middle of something here man." He said.

Bass nodded. "Yeah I know, I can see that." He said. "And you just look super excited about it. But are you ok?" he asked.

Miles furrowed his brows and frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Bass sighed. "Look, man, I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but I do know that this is the first time in twenty-two years you haven't acknowledged what today is." He shrugged. "I also know that as much as you deny it every time, what happened last year changed something and I just don't want you to do something you'll regret because you feel bad."

Miles smirked. "You're going to lecture me about avoiding a one night stand? Really?" he shook his head. "This doesn't mean anything, I'm just having some fun." He shrugged. "I don't even know what today is, except for my last night away from base for the next two weeks." He said and turned away to walk back to his car and the girl that was getting impatient.

"So the fact that it's Charlie's birthday means nothing to you?" Bass's voice stopped him.

Miles turned back around and shrugged. "How many time do I have to tell you?" he asked. "None of it means anything." He said as he headed back for the girl waiting for him. The girl that didn't taste like home.

…..

Present day…

"Alright birthday girl, I'll buy the next round if you go to the bar with me." Bass said with a smile.

Charlie couldn't really say no to that, so she smiled and motioned for him to get up and let her out of the booth.

Miles watched them walk away before turning back to the rest of the table. He knew Stephanie, she and Charlie had been friends most of Charlie's life. He wasn't sure who the guy was that was with her, but he assumed it was her boyfriend. And then of course there was Danny and Connor.

….

Bass leaned against the bar and looked at Charlie with a smirk. "Alright, what do you say we get out of, have a little fun of our own? Just you and me." He said and Charlie rolled her eyes. "I think I'll pass." She said.

Bass cocked his head to the side and leaned a little closer, the smirk turning more flirty than before. "Oh come one. We're both adults here, you're gorgeous and we both know I'm pretty gorgeous myself." He said and she laughed. "We could make something beautiful together." He said with a waggle of his brows.

Charlie smirked now. "Wow, that's a tempting offer, but I think I'm going to have to turn it down." She said.

Bass reached out and let one finger trail down her hand where it hung at her side. "Why?" he asked and Charlie raised a brow. "Because I know you remember?"

Bass shrugged. "You know the child friendly version, there's so much more that you don't know about."

But Charlie just laughed again and shook her head. "Yeah well, the child friendly version is plenty for me, thanks anyway."

Bass took a half step away and smiled a real smile. "So you're in love with him then?" he asked.

Charlie frowned. "Connor? I don't know we haven't been dating that long."

Bass shook his head, looking at her like she was a little slow. "No not Connor. Don't get me wrong, he seems like a nice enough kid, but he's a shmuck and we both know it." He said. "I meant Miles."

Charlie looked to the booth, where Miles was talking to Stephanie about something while Connor listened on, not really a part of any conversation.

"I…" she shook her head. "It doesn't matter one way or the other." She said, turning back to Bass.

He raised his brows. "Why not?" he asked.

Charlie shrugged. "You know Miles, I'm too young for him, it could destroy the family," she said, knowing the kind of overly dramatic thoughts he tended towards. "He might die if he let himself be happy for two seconds." She finished with another shrug.

Bass laughed, loudly. "Well yeah, that does sound like him, but he might surprise you." He shrugged this time. "If you let him know."

Charlie shook her head. "I did that before, look where that got me." She said. "Besides, like I said, it doesn't matter either way, because it doesn't matter what he may or may not feel." She said, looking Bass in the eye, making sure he understood where her words were coming from. "He's just screwed because he fell for me, like an idiot, because of a stupid kiss."

She smirked when she saw the surprised look on Bass's face. "See?" she asked. "He knows how I feel…felt…about him, and for four years he could have done something to let me know that he felt anything for me, but he didn't, he avoided me instead." She said. "Leaving me to think that he hated me for ruining our friendship."

She picked up their drinks and turned to go back to the booth leaving him to grab the rest, but stopped and looked back to him. "That's why it doesn't matter one way or the other, because he made it that way."

Charlie sat the drinks down and smiled. "Who wants to dance with me?" she asked looking at Connor.

He smiled but shook his head. "Sorry babe, I don't dance." He said.

Danny looked at Miles and raised his brows and Miles frowned at him, not picking up his cue. Bass, who had just finished passing out the drinks, kicked Miles foot where it rested beside his own.

Miles looked at him and Bass raised his brows. And Miles shook his head slightly. Bass pursed his lips and twitched his brows again, carrying on a silent conversation with Miles.

Miles rolled his eyes once and stood up, grabbing Charlie's hand as she started to sit down. "What are you doing?" she asked, suddenly sounding panicked.

Miles pulled her towards the little dance floor in the corner. "You wanted to dance, we're going to dance." He glanced back once at Bass who gave him an encouraging nod and he rolled his eyes again before turning back to Charlie.

"You don't like to dance." She said.

"Yeah well, it's your birthday, and I have a few to make up for." He said as pulled her closer once they reached the dance floor. "Don't worry, I know how to dance, I just usually choose not to." he said with a smirk as the music changed and a new, slower song started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? No you can't stop now!
> 
> I know I know, but I'm working on the next chapter and will have it up by the weekend :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Remember, reviews make you AWESOME!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, as promised, chapter 6! Enjoy!

Miles held her hand and slid his other arm around the small of her back. Charlie held herself rigid, and Miles opened his mouth, not really sure what he was going to say to get her to relax, when she let out a quiet sigh and leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder.

He smiled slightly and neither one seemed to notice when he arm tightened around her.

….

"How do you guys know him again?" Connor asked as the small group watched the couple lost in their own little world as they danced.

"He and Bass," Danny said, gesturing across the table to where Bass was sitting. "grew up with our dad. Dad's older by about 7 years though." He said.

Stephanie nodded. "She's always had a thing for him though, ever since we were kids." She said and Bass and Connor both turned to her.

Bass raised his brows while Connor frowned. "Really?" Bass questioned and Connor looked back to the pair dancing.

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, she's had a crush on him since she was fourteen." She said and then suddenly realized who she was talking to. "But you know, it was just a stupid crush, she's moved on obviously." She said with a smile to Connor.

"Obviously." Connor said drily.

…

Miles closed his eyes and leaned his head down and lightly brushed his cheek against Charlie's hair. She sighed again and held on a little tighter. They both knew this was a dangerous game, but neither one wanted to waste the opportunity to hold onto the other for a little while longer.

Finally Charlie pulled away some and looked up at him. "Why didn't you stop that day? On your birthday? You just kept going." She asked him and rolled her eyes at his surprised expression.

"Yeah I saw you, you've had the same car since you were eighteen, I was there when you bought it remember?"

Miles let his arms drop to his sides and sighed.

…..

Two years go…

It was Miles thirty-eighth birthday and Bass had gone all out and planned a big blow out party at their local hangout, the crappy bar up town.

They were still stationed in North Carolina, things were working well for them and they had even been able to settle into a small apartment nearby instead of the base.

Shelly wasn't in the picture anymore, having gotten tired of the runaround that the non-committal Bass was giving her, so the night was sure to have plenty of drink and plenty of women. Not that Miles was interested in that.

He was currently driving down the road, on his way back to the apartment, his current girl Kate, sitting in the seat beside him.

She was saying something, he wasn't really paying attention, but he reached over and grabbed her hand, holding it as he drove.

"Crap." He said as he stopped at the corner a little ways down the road from his place.

Kate stopped talking mid-sentence. "What's wrong?" she asked with a frown.

Miles shook his head and didn't answer his eyes on the figure on the front porch of the little apartment house.

Kate followed his gaze and she raised her brows. "Who is that?" she asked him.

"Ben's daughter." Miles replied, hoping she would let it go, but knowing that was asking too much.

"So what's the problem? You don't like her?"

Miles shook his head. "No, it's not that, it's just…I haven't seen her in a while and last time didn't end so well." He shrugged. "I was very stupid." He said quietly.

Charlie stood up and Miles noticed she held a gift bag in her hand and he swore under his breath. She had come for his birthday. She was a better person than him, but he wasn't really surprised by that. Most people were a better person than him.

He couldn't do this, he couldn't just see her and act like nothing happened. He had done so well to not let that stupid kiss affect things with the rest of his family, but he couldn't do that with her. And he couldn't take the risk of letting anything happen, couldn't risk what might happen to his family if and when things ended, because they always ended. They all, including her, meant too much to him for that to happen.

A car honked from behind him and just as Charlie looked up he made the decision and gunned it. Not slowing down, he just kept going right by the apartment and didn't turn back.

"Idiot." Miles said quietly, but still loud enough for Kate to hear. She looked back at the fading figure of the girl behind them and then at the white knuckles on Miles hands as he gripped the wheel and she frowned again.

Later that night Miles went home and found the bag sitting on the porch, no other sign that Charlie had been there. He picked it up and opened it and pulled out his favorite whiskey and a hastily scrawled note.

Happy Birthday old Man, have a drink on me.

….

Present day…

"Do you have any idea how stupid I felt? I waited for you, I thought maybe you hadn't seen me, tried really hard to convince myself of that, but we both know that wasn't true." Charlie said as she stood in front of him, ignoring the other couples on the dance floor.

"Charlie." Miles started to say, but she held up a hand and cut him off. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be completely ignored, for years, by one of the most important people in the world to you?" she asked him.

Miles shook his head. "No I don't, and I'm sorry, more than you can know, that you do."

Charlie scoffed. "It's a little late for sorry." She said. "You made me feel like I ruined everything, like I broke our friendship over one stupid mistake." She said as she took a step back from him. "I was in love with you." She said, her anger evident in her voice. "And you made me feel like that was something wrong. So you want to be sorry? Don't be sorry to me, feel sorry for yourself." She said before turning and walking away from him.

She didn't stop at the booth, but kept walking until she made it to the door, and she didn't stop until she was outside.

….

Connor found her leaning against the side of the building a few minutes later. "Hey." He said as he leaned beside her.

Charlie gave him a small smile. "Hi." She said.

"So, that was something in there." He said, one brow raised.

Charlie sighed. "Yeah, that was a long time coming, sorry if I ruined the party." She said with a humorless chuckle.

Connor reached over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's your party, you can cry if you want to right?" he asked with a little smile aimed her way.

Charlie smiled slightly and shook her head. "I don't want to." she said with a shrug.

Connor nodded. "So I take it he was more than you let on?" he asked tentatively.

"No, he was never really more." She said, sadly.

He nodded once again. "I assume that's part of the issue here?" he asked, and in that moment Charlie wished she could love him.

He was understanding and sweet and he genuinely cared about her. She wished with her whole heart that she could feel even a little for him what she's always felt for the jackass inside.

"I'm sorry." She said, completely aware of the irony in that statement. "I should have told you about him, really told you about him, before." She said and shrugged. "I loved him and he…" she shook her head and shrugged again. "I'm not sure what he was thinking, but he disappeared on me and I thought that I was over it until I saw him again."

Connor sighed and dropped his arm from her shoulders. "OK, here's what you're going to do." He said. "You're going to go back inside and have fun with your friends, and with me, and you're going to let him figure his own crap out. You can't do that for him. If he comes to you, talk to him, if not, screw him."

Charlie laughed a little. "You have it all figured out huh?"

Connor shook his head. "No, I just don't want you to be sad." He said with a smile.

Charlie sighed. "What does this mean for us? You and me?" she asked him as she stood up straight.

Connor grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I think you know what this means for us." He said and she nodded. "Yeah I figured. I really am sorry." She said.

Connor nodded. "I know; it's ok. It really sucks." He said and she chuckled again. "But it'll be ok. It wasn't meant to be. That happens.

"Now come on." He said as he pulled her towards the door. "Let's go have a drink and a little fun."

Charlie followed him back inside. She was going to do exactly what he said and forget about Miles and his crap and have a little fun. It's her birthday after all, he wasn't going to mess this one up any more than he already had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That Miles man...he really needs to get his act together. lol
> 
> Remember, reviews make you AWESOME! (And awesome people are the coolest)


	7. Chapter 7

Connor and Charlie got back to the table and Bass and Miles were both gone. Looking around, Charlie saw them up by the bar having what appeared to be a heated discussion.

"What's going on there?" she asked Danny as Stephanie scooted over, making more room in the booth.

Danny shrugged. "I don't know, after you walked out, Miles just stood there watching after you and Bass said something about Miles being an idiot and went over and dragged him away. They've been over there ever since."

Charlie glanced at Connor who raised a brow and she smiled at him and tossed her hair back. "Oh well, that's their crap." She said and Connor smiled. "Let's have some fun tonight and not worry about them."

…

"What is wrong with you?" Bass asked Miles as he shoved him out the door. After that wonderful display it was obvious that it was time for them to leave.

Miles turned around and glared at him. "I didn't do anything, you wanted me to dance with her, I danced with her." he said. "She's the one bringing up stuff that happened years ago, not me." He said as he pointed a finger towards his own chest.

Bass rolled his eyes. "Are you serious right now? Are you really trying to say that all of that in there wasn't your fault?" he shook his head. "I swear to God man, you are out of your mind." Bass said as he walked passed Miles on his way to his car.

Miles started walking with him, trying to keep up. "I'll take the blame for a lot of stuff that's gone down, but how was that my fault?" he asked, pointing back towards the bar.

Bass stopped walking and turned to him. "Did you not hear what she said in there? Because I'm pretty sure everyone else in the place did." He said.

Miles scoffed. "Yeah I heard her." he said "But again I must ask how was it all my fault? She was there too, she was the one who started yelling at me, she was the one who brought it up in the first place, she was the one"

"She was the one you left behind without any warning." Bass said, interrupting his tirade. He shook his head again. "Did you really think that when you finally came face to face with her again after all this time it was going to be like it was before? There's a reason you stayed gone for so long, maybe it's time you owned up to that and fixed this." Bass said before turning and walking away.

"So what," Miles called after him. "you're just going to come in and make a mess of everything and then walk away?"

Bass turned back to him and smirked at him. "Yeah I'm the one that did that." He said. "I'm the one that screwed things up with you and Charlie, because I'm the one who's been too much of a little chicken shit to own up to my feelings." Bass nodded. "Yep, that was all me."

Bass stalked back over to him. "This is the same thing that I've been trying to say for the past four years man, you have real feelings for this girl and it scares you." He said. "So all you're doing is messing everything up, because you're too scared that you're going to mess everything up."

Bass held his hands out a little and shrugged. "See the irony there?"

…

One year ago…

"You are truly pathetic." Bass said as he smacked the sole of Miles shoe. Miles lifted his feet from the table to let Bass pass by before plopping them back down.

Miles raised a brow at him. "Why?" he asked, half listening, half watching the TV, a bottle of beer in his hand.

Bass scoffed. "Why? Look at you man, this is ridiculous. I thought you were going home this weekend? Here it is, Friday night and here you sit."

Miles looked at him and raised both his brows. "You're here too; wouldn't that make you pathetic also?"

Bass shook his head. "No, because I'm here trying to get you to get out, have some fun, do something." He said.

"Why didn't you go ahead and go home?" Bass asked as he sat down on the other end of the couch.

Miles didn't answer, he just looked back to the TV and Bass sighed. "Seriously?" He asked. "You get it right, that you've taken something that could have meant nothing and made it change your whole life? You could go home at any time and act like it never even happened, it's been so long she might not even remember by now. Hell she might not even have remembered by the next morning."

Miles sighed. "Just drop it." He said, as he reached for the remote and turned the TV up, trying to drown out his friend, as well as the voice in his head telling him that was part of the problem.

What if she didn't remember? What if he saw her and she acted like it never happened? This thing, that really did change his whole life. What if, to her, it hadn't meant anything?

What if it meant everything?

…..

Present day…

"Thanks for picking me up, I kind of lost my ride." Miles said as Ben drove them both back to his house.

"It's not a problem, but why didn't you just catch a ride back with Charlie and Danny?" Ben asked.

Miles shrugged. "Charlie was having a good time, didn't want to pull her away from that." He said.

Ben chuckled. "And what exactly happened with Bass? It's been a while since you two had a fight like this."

Miles rolled his eyes. "I was stupid and he called me out on it. He was right, but you know me, couldn't let it go."

Ben nodded. "Yeah I would say you can be a bit of a jackass when you drink, but you don't seem like you've had much."

Miles chuckled humorlessly. "I had maybe half a beer. But thanks or that, it's comforting to know what you really think."

This, right here, is why he couldn't let himself take the chance with Charlie. As much as he wants to, because yes he can admit it to himself now, he wants her like he's never wanted anyone before, how is he supposed to risk his family? What if he took the chance to be with her and it didn't work out? This family, this is a done deal, if he doesn't screw it up he has them for life. But Charlie? How is he supposed to risk everything on the chance that they might actually work?

Isn't it better to keep what he has and let her go, than risk hurting everyone in the long run?


	8. Chapter 8

It was sometime after 2 am when Miles headed for the kitchen to get some water. He hadn't been waiting up for Charlie and Danny to get home. He scowls, and Connor. Nope, that wasn't it at all. He was just not tired. He was too awake after his talk with Bass. His mind didn't want to slow down and allow sleep to come.

Yeah, that was it; it had nothing to do with the need to make sure she was safe at home before he could sleep. Nothing at all.

Whatever the reason truly was, Miles found himself in the kitchen when Charlie came stumbling in a minute later, closely followed by Danny as he tried to help steady her.

She stopped suddenly when she saw him and Danny ran into the back of her causing her to giggle.

Miles raised his brows. She giggled? Yep, she was drunk. He sighed to himself, because drunk Charlie was what got him into this mess in the first place.

"Oh Miles, hey. You can help her get some water right?" Danny asked. "I'm just gonna…yeah…" he said before turning and walking back down the hall towards the front stairs.

This was how Miles found himself standing in the kitchen holding a bottle of water in his hand, wearing only in his boxers and a t-shirt, his bare toes tapping on the cold linoleum as he contemplated whether it was too late to make a break for it.

But as he looked at Charlie, her shoes in one hand and her low ride jeans covering all but her own bare toes, he found himself not wanting to be anywhere else.

Charlie swayed slightly as she headed towards the refrigerator for her own water and Miles found himself reaching out for her, his instincts taking over, to keep her from falling.

Charlie looked up at him and he felt his heart beat fast and his stomach clench. "Did you have fun tonight?" he asked, hoping she was too drunk to notice the tremor in his voice.

Charlie nodded. "Yep, after you left everything was great." She said bopping his nose with her finger as she spoke.

Miles leaned back some and sighed.

"I'm not a kid." Charlie said, mimicking the words she spoke That night, four years ago tonight.

Miles sighed again. "The problem was never that I thought you were a kid Charlie." He said with a shake of his head.

Charlie frowned. "Why did you have leave like that? Why couldn't you act like a grown man and talked to me about it? Why," she asked, glancing down. "are you not wearing any pants?"

Miles couldn't help himself, he let out a quiet laugh, mostly just air through his nose, but it was enough to grab Charlie's attention.

She pulled away from him and he let his hands fall back to his side, his bottle of water forgotten on the counter beside him.

"I don't want to be mad at you anymore." She said shaking her head. "I've spent a lot of time being mad at you and I just want to be your friend again, I've missed you." She said, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his middle, hugging him.

Miles leaned back to look at her and frowned when she leaned with him. Looking down at her he chuckled, and getting a better hold of her, swung a passed out Charlie into his arms and carried her upstairs to her room.

He laid her on the bed and covered her up, repeating his actions from the last time he did this. Once gain he found himself reach out and brushing her hair away from her face.

"I've missed you too. You have no idea how much." He said as he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

…

**Six months ago…**

Miles was home for a few days.

Technically he was currently homeless. His time in the marines had been life changing, but that part of his life was over. It was time to move on and figure out what came next. And right now, that meant apartment hunting. But mostly he was staying with Bass until he got back on his feet.

Ben walked into the living room where he was sitting and tossed the phone to him. Miles caught it and raised a brow in question. "What's this for?" he asked.

"To call Charlie." Ben said.

Miles frowned. "Why do I need to call Charlie?" he asked, wondering where this was coming from.

Ben sat down and shrugged. "I don't know what happened with you guys, all I know is that you guys started to avoid each other for some reason and it sucks, for both of you, and every time you're here or you call or email, you spend most of the time trying to get information about her." he shrugged again. "You guys were friends, you guys are family, you should talk."

Miles looked at the phone. Ben was right. Ben was always right. He needed to make things right with her, but how? He can't just call her up and say, hey how's life, after three years of avoiding her.

"I will, I'll talk to her, just not now." He said and Benn rolled his eyes. Miles chuckled a little. "I was stupid, if you can believe that, it'll take more than a phone call to make things right." He said.

Ben nodded. "Yeah ok, just don't put it off forever, you both mean too much to me to see either of you hurt." He stood up to leave the room, but stopped at the doorway and turned back to the man who had always been like a brother to him. "If it helps, she asks about you just as much."

…

**Present day…**

Charlie opened her eyes with a groan as the light hit her face from the open window. She sat up slowly and looked around the room and noticed a bottle of water and two aspirin sitting on her bedside table.

As she reached for them she groaned again as the events of last night came back to her. was startling clarity, considering how much she had to drink, Charlie remembered pretty much everything that happened right up until she passed out in Miles arms.

She put her hand to her head and wondered if he would still be here, or if he had pulled another disappearing act like last time.

…..

Miles was sitting at the kitchen table when Charlie made her way downstairs later after giving the aspirin time to kick in.

"Hey." She said, surprised to see him sitting there.

Miles lifted his coffee mug in greeting. "Morning kid." He said.

Charlie raised a brow and he rolled his eyes and offered her a one sided smirk. "Charlie." He amended.

Charlie smiled a little as she fixed herself a cup of coffee. They were far from "fixed" but this was a start.

….

Ben walked into the kitchen and raised his brows at Miles when he found the pair sharing sections of the morning paper.

Miles smiled slightly and shrugged one shoulder before snatching the section out of Charlie's hand.

"Hey!" she said as she tried to take it back.

Ben smiled. It was nice to have the family all together again.

...

Later that afternoon Miles found Charlie sitting on the back patio and he sat on a lounge chair beside her. "I need to talk to you." He said.

Charlie nodded and sighed a little. "Alright, I guess it's your turn after last night huh?" she said.

"I need you to understand, that I didn't ignore you, I avoided you." He said. "That's an important distinction."

Charlie raised a brow. "OK, why?"

Miles sighed and looked away from her, out across the back yard. "When I was a kid the only family I had was my parents, and I lost them." He said and turned back to her. "And then your family took me in, and raised me like I was theirs. Most of my life, besides Bass, they've been the only family I've known." He said.

"I need you to understand just how important you dad is to me. How important all of you are to me." He said.

Charlie nodded. "I know Miles." She said.

Miles Stood up and paced. "The last thing I wanted to do, is risk losing any of you." He stopped and looked at her. "But I was scared that was exactly what would happen." He said sitting back down.

"When I was fifteen, Ben placed this beautiful pink little baby in my hands for me to hold for the first time." He said and Charlie smiled a little. "I vowed right then to always protect her.

"Then the night of your twenty-first birthday, suddenly you weren't Ben's kid anymore, you were just Charlie, your own person." He said. "That night, when I looked at you, I could see all the different way that I could hurt you. And I thought the best way for me to protect you, would be to leave you alone."

Charlie shook her head slightly. "So why change things now? What happened to make you feel differently about this whole situation?"

Miles looked towards the house. "Ben was right." He said and Charlie rolled her eyes.

"He's always right." She said.

Miles laughed. "Yeah, he sucks that way." He looked back to her. "He pointed out that we were friends, and this whole thing with us wasn't good for anyone." He shrugged again. "And I realized that by trying to protect you, I was only hurting both of us.

"So here I am, trying to figure out how to make it right."

Charlie nodded. "Good." She said.

Miles raised his brows. "Good?" he asked. That was all she had to say?

Charlie nodded again. "Yeah." She said. "I'm not going to push anything here, I did that once and I didn't see you for four years. I meant what I said last night, I want to be friends again.

"So you figure out what you want to do, and then come talk to me." She said, before picking up the book she had been reading when he first came outside.

Miles watched her for a minute and then stood up. "OK, good." He said before walking back inside, but he stopped just outside the door. "I'm sorry about you and Connor." He said.

"No you're not, but thanks." She said with a shrug. "It just wasn't meant to be." Miles nodded once and went inside.

Charlie smiled to herself. She didn't know what would happen next, she was just glad to have her friend back.

….

Bass was sitting in his hotel room, wondering if he should just go home or try to talk to Miles again, when his phone beeped letting him know he had a text message.

It was from Miles.

" _I hate you."_

That was the whole message and Bass laughed when he saw it.

" _That's because I'm always right, and you can't stand it."_ He texted back.

He waited a minute for Miles to replied back.

" _So what do I do now smart guy?"_ Miles asked.

Bass smiled, this was easy.

" _Tell her how you feel you idiot! She already knows, but she needs to hear you say it, to her, or else you're just going to be stuck in the same old cycle."_ He said.

" _I really hate you."_ Miles said back and Bass laughed again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first of all, you're all welcome for the image of Billy Burke in his underwear... :)
> 
> Second, I'm thinking a chapter and an epilogue is what we're looking that's left for this story.
> 
> Third, thank you to everyone for reading :)
> 
> Fourth (I'm almost done) I have a job interview! yay! So everyone wish me luck with that, cause I really need this job! :)
> 
> And finally...
> 
> Remember, reviews make you AWESOME!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter took longer than I wanted it to to get posted. I had it all planned out since the beginning, basically, but it took me a little longer than i liked to get the time to sit down and work on it.
> 
> But here it is, all finished for your enjoyment. We have an epilogue left after this and then this story is finished.
> 
> I hope you all like it, thanks for reading. :)

Miles found Ben in the den. If he had even the slightest hope that he could fix things with Charlie, he needed to talk to Ben. He needed him to know what was going on in Miles head.

"Hey, you busy?" Miles asked as he stepped into the room.

Ben shook his head and looked up from his computer. "No, not really, what's up?" Ben asked, motioning for Miles to sit down.

Miles sat down and shrugged. "Nothing much." He said.

Ben raised a brow. "I noticed you and Charlie were talking again." He said and Miles nodded. "Yeah, she uh, decided to just not be mad at me anymore." He said with a light chuckle.

Ben nodded with a smile. "Good, I'm glad." He said. "Now what do you really want Miles? I know you; you didn't just come in here to hang out for a while."

Miles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "OK, this is gonna sound cliché and stupid." He said and Ben shrugged. "Things become cliché because they happen often, and they happen often because they matter."

Miles nodded. "Alright, how did you know Rachel was the one?" he asked in a rush to get it out.

Ben raised his brows and looked at Miles, almost as if he knew exactly who Miles was thinking about. "She told me." He finally said.

It was Miles turn to raise his brows. "What?"

Ben chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, she told me. I was too worried about ruining our working relationship, and finally she asked me out and a couple weeks later she told me she loved me and then finally she asked me when I was going to ask her to marry me." He shrugged again and laughed. "I was pretty stupid not to see what was right in front of my face, but when I did, I knew I couldn't let her go. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me."

Miles nodded, looking thoughtful and Ben once again studied him as he sat there. "So who's the lucky woman?" he finally asked.

Miles shrugged. "Nobody." He said Ben cocked one brow. Miles sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah ok, there's somebody, but I'm not sure how to fix things." He said.

Ben nodded. "Alright, what did you do?"

Miles smirked. "I didn't really see what was right in front of my face." He said, one brow raised and Ben laughed.

Miles smirked again and rolled his eyes. "Most of my life I've had either you or Bass to set the example, I'm a bit emotionally stupid." He said and Ben laughed again.

"Yeah I guess we should be happy you've turned out as adjusted as you have." He said before turning serious again.

"Alright, well; do you love her?" Ben asked.

Miles sat there for a moment, thinking about the question, and then he nodded. "Yeah, I do." He said; a slight smile on his face.

"Have you told her?" Ben asked.

Miles shook his head. "No."

Ben rolled his eyes and stood up and walked around his desk to stand in front of the man that had always been like a little brother to him. "Then go and tell her." he said.

Miles shook his head. "I don't think it's going to be that easy to fix things, I was really stupid." He said.

Ben shrugged. "You know, I have a feeling she's already stopped being mad at you." He said and Miles looked up at him and furrowed his brows.

Ben reached out and laid a hand on Miles shoulder. "I just want you to know; no matter what happens, with you and this woman," he said and looked Miles in the eye, making sure he was really listening. "or with you and Charlie, nothing will ever change the fact that you're family." He said. "Do you understand?"

Miles nodded. "Yeah." He said, thinking for the first time since coming into the room, that they were finally on the same page.

Somehow, Ben knew, and was telling him it was ok.

Miles stood up and clapped Ben on the shoulder. "Thanks for this, I think I need to go have a talk with somebody now." He said and Ben watched him leave the room.

And he wondered to himself, just how long it would be before that man became an official member of the family.

…

Miles found Charlie in the kitchen. It seemed they were destined to have all their important conversations in this room.

"Can we talk?" Miles asked as he leaned against the counter by where Charlie stood fixing a glass of iced tea.

Charlie nodded and sat the tea pitcher down. "Sure, what's up?" she asked.

"Lastnight," Miles started out. "you said you had been in love with me." He said and Charlie only nodded. "Are you still?" he asked, not really sure he wanted the answer.

When she shook her head, Miles felt as if he were going to be sick until she spoke. "Nope, that's not how this is going to go." She said. "You can't just ask me that and expect and answer without giving me anything first.

"It might be childish, but I deserve for you to put yourself out there and tell me how you feel without knowing how I'll respond." She said.

Miles nodded. "You're right. You do deserve that." He said, but then he shrugged and shook his head once. "but there aren't really words to describe it."

Charlie shook her head again. "Then get as close as you can." She said and he smiled slightly, knowing that excuse wasn't going to fly with her.

"Alright, but I've never done this before, so bear with me." He said.

Miles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I care about you more than I ever have with anyone else." He shook his head once. "I didn't expect it or plan for it. It happened in a moment. It was sudden and it consumed me." He said.

Charlie raised her brows, not having expected this kind of explanation.

"One minute you were this kid I'd always known, and the next you were everything I have always wanted all wrapped up in a pretty bow standing in front of me." Miles said, finding the words coming easier than he had expected.

"You already know why I avoided you all this time, but what you don't know, is that there wasn't a single day that went by that I didn't wish I were a better man, a man that was worthy of someone like you."

Charlie realized her mouth was hanging open and she snapped it shut and Miles smiled and reached out to brush his thumb over her chin.

"I love you." He said and she sucked in a shuddering breath. "And if you don't love me right now, that's ok." He said and Charlie raised her brows in question.

Miles shrugged slightly. "I don't want to keep your heart if you don't want me too. I just want you to be happy, and if that's not with me, I'll have to accept that because it's my fault for walking away in the first place."

Miles took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh and nodded once. "So there you have it, I love you." He said.

Charlie didn't say anything and Miles opened his mouth, not sure what more he was going to say, when she suddenly took a step forward, putting herself directly in front of him.

She reached up and slipped her hand behind his head to the back of his neck and pulled his head towards her as she raised up to meet him. Her mouth finding his.

And just like that, after all this time. He was home again.

"Finally I swear I thought I was going to have to lock you two in a room."

They pulled apart and looked toward the doorway to see Danny standing there and Charlie chuckled as Miles glared at him.

"Kid, get lost." Miles said.

Danny rolled his eyes and headed past them to the back door and Charlie laughed.

"Where were we?" Miles asked as he turned back to Charlie.

She smiled. "You were telling me how much you loved me." She said.

Miles cocked his head slightly as he leaned closer to her. "Actually, I think we already covered that." He said as he claimed her lips once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Finally! That man was driving me crazy with all his hemming and hawing around...lol
> 
> Remember, reviews make you AWESOME!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, the final chapter. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who favorited, followed and/or reviewed. You guys are all amazing! Thank you so much for giving this story a chance. It was my first foray into Marlie wasn't strictly family centered, so I was nervous about it, but you all were wonderful.
> 
> Another special thank you to ShyRomantic, not only for encouraging me to write this in the first place, but for helping me find the right music to help with the inspiration...without that I don't know how this story would have ever gotten finished. Thank you.
> 
> Alright, without further ado...

**Two Years Later…Charlie's Birthday**

"You take her." Charlie said as she plopped the crying one year old into Miles lap. The child stopped crying and wrapped her arms around Miles neck, taking a shuddering breath as she calmed down.

"Hey Lexie, what's wrong?" Miles asked as he rubbed a soothing circle on his daughters back.

Charlie placed a hand on her hip. "I asked you to do one thing, keep an eye on her while I helped mom set things up outside, but could you manage that? No. So now she's pulled the cake down off the table so there's no dessert." She said as she glared at him.

Miles stood up, still holding Lexie to his chest. "I'm sorry," he said, his brows furrowed. "I was talking to Ben for a minute; I'm not the one who left the door open so she could get outside. If you had closed it nothing would have happened, besides it's just a cake." He said. "I think you're grown up enough to not freak out over not having a birthday cake."

Lexie looked between her parents, not understanding what was wrong, but knowing that something wasn't right, and she screwed up her face, ready to start crying all over again, when Bass walked through the open patio door.

"Hey Lex." He said reaching out for the girl with a silly smile on his face. "Come with Uncle Bass, let Mommy and Daddy yell at each other a little bit." He said as he took the girl from Miles, without Miles or Charlie either really acknowledging he was in the room.

Bass took the girl out of the kitchen and found the rest of the family outside the door and he rolled his eyes. "Seriously guys?" he asked seeing them standing there.

Danny shrugged. "They have the most entertaining fights." He said in explanation.

Bass rolled his eyes again and handed Lexie off to Ben and turned to listen with the rest of them.

…..

"This isn't about a cake," They heard Charlie say. "This is about the fact that you couldn't be bothered to watch your daughter for two minutes while I left the room." Charlie scoffed "What could possibly be so important that you had to talk to dad about it right now?"

Bass and Ben looked at each other and Rachel frowned at the pair. "What?" she asked them and Ben shrugged. "Nothing." He said and Rachel raised a brow, not buying it.

Danny looked at Bass, but he only shook his head slightly, giving nothing else away, but Danny had his suspicions.

…..

Charlie stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the man in front of her. "Well? Do you have an answer or are you just going to shrug it off like you do everything else?" she asked.

Miles rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket. "Fine, if you are going to make a huge deal over nothing…" he said trailing off. "I would never presume the think you actually needed his permission," he said, pulling his hand from his pocket. "But I was talking to Ben to get his blessing to ask you to marry me!" He yelled at her, shoving a ring in her face.

Charlie looked at the ring and then to Miles. "Well it's about time!" she yelled back at him.

Miles knew it would probably only make her madder, but he couldn't help the laugh that escaped at her reaction. "Really?" he said. "That's all you have to say?"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Well I mean, it did take you long enough." She said. "What is with you taking so long to do anything?" she asked.

Miles raised his brows. "If you wanted to get married so badly, you could have asked at any time." He pointed out.

Charlie scoffed again. "I'm sorry, I pushed the _Human Being_ out of my girly parts, the least you could do is get on your freaking knee and ask me to marry you, you moron!" she said, once again yelling at him.

"Fine!" Miles said, also yelling again.

Charlie folded her arms over her chest as she watched him kneel down in front of her, and just like that it hit her, what he was doing, and she smiled as she let her arms drop to her sides.

Miles smiled up at her and held the ring out. "I love you, and I love fighting with you." He said and Charlie rolled her eyes once more, smile still in place. Miles smiled a little wider. "I want to keep fighting with you, and not fighting with you, for the rest of my life." he cleared his throat. "Will you marry me?"

Charlie chuckled. "You're so stupid." She said and nodded. "Of course I will."

Miles slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, pulling her into his arms to kiss her. But they only got a moment to themselves before the rest of their crazy family burst into the room, clapping and cheering for them.

"It's about time brother." Bass said as he clapped Miles on the shoulder, once more holding Lexie.

Miles rolled his eyes at his best friend before smile at his daughter. She was smitten with Bass and Miles couldn't help but smile at the way the little girl had his friend wrapped around her little finger. Just like she did him. She was just like her mother.

And as Miles looked over and watched Charlie and Rachel look over the ring he had just given her, he knew. That's not a bad thing.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you all enjoyed this final chapter. I thought it seemed very much like him to put off the actual asking her to marry him bit for so long...I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with having them wait so long. I also hope that the added bonus of Lexie might soften the blow if there is any disappointment. :)
> 
> Again, thank you all for reading. Anyone who reads my Charloe stories should be on the look out for a new installment for the Red Camaro series over the weekend.
> 
> And remember, reviews make you AWESOME!


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